The monsters ... look like cartoonish, drooling mannequins. It's like being chased through the Macy's men's department.
I Am Legend (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:204
Fresh:140
Rotten:64
Average Rating:6.3/10
Consensus: I Am Legend overcomes questionable special effects and succeeds largely on the strength of Will Smith's mesmerizing performance.
Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence.
Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:26-12-2007
Synopsis: Will Smith is Robert Neville, the lone survivor in a New York City where streets are overgrown and deer gambol among deserted automobiles. Following an epidemic, the Earth's population has been... Will Smith is Robert Neville, the lone survivor in a New York City where streets are overgrown and deer gambol among deserted automobiles. Following an epidemic, the Earth's population has been turned into an army of nocturnal zombies. Immune to the virus, military scientist Neville searches for a cure in his Washington Square townhouse. Haunted by visions of his family leaving quarantined Manhattan two years prior, he drives through the city with his German Shepherd, Sam, by day and barricades his home from the monsters nightly. But when Anna (Alice Braga)--another immune stranger-finds him, they will have to fight the onslaught twice as hard. Akiva Goldsman and Mark Protosevich's emotionally-charged script showcases the charisma of Smith, who commands the screen alone for most of the picture (aside Abbey, a talented German Shepherd). Director Francis Lawrence (CONSTANTINE) uses music minimally, wisely allowing the eerie cityscapes to remain mostly silent. The set pieces, including an overgrown, deserted Times Square and a lion hunting a deer in the Flatrion District, are goosebump-inducing moments of stark beauty. Though some may question the rendering of the monsters in CGI instead of using actors, it does allow them to be frighteningly acrobatic. A chilling and effective adaptation of a horror classic, I AM LEGEND is also a thought-provoking piece of Hollywood filmmaking. [More]
Starring: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Dash Mihok, Salli Richardson-Whitfield
Starring: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Dash Mihok, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Willow Smith, Charlie Tahan
Director: Francis Lawrence
Director: Francis Lawrence
Screenwriter: Mark Protosevich, Akiva Goldsman
Producer: Akiva Goldsman, James Lassiter, David Heyman, Neal Moritz
Composer: James Newton Howard
Studio: Warner Bros.
Reviews for I Am Legend
I wouldn't want to watch I Am Legend again even if it were the last movie on Earth.
Superlative fright-fest featuring Will Smith at the top of his game as the last human survivor in a Manhattan full of night-dwelling mutants.
The first half, the sci-fi part, is fine; the second, the same ol' undead horror segment, is tune-out time.
Whether he’s attempting to maintain his sense of bravado or glimpsing his complete and total despair, Smith nails the character brilliantly.
Even with Smith acting up a storm, what starts out as a potentially fascinating picture about an apocalyptic plague soon devolves into yet another special-effects laden zombie movie.
A largely terrific, meanly gripping movie ... nearly upended by the use of some noticeably lousy CGI effects. Ditch the computers, slather some greasepaint on some extras, and we'd be talking a minor classic.
The film descends into a monster-movie malaise starring a horde of balding CGI monsters that look like refugees from a video game and that will scare absolutely no one, save those who worry that green-screening is ruining the movies.
...The film is well-done, a case of suspenseful competence trumping questionable relevance.
A fun movie. It's a popcorn thriller providing some alternative fare for genre fans during the drama-heavy awards season.
I Am Legend turns from a quiet meditation on the nature of humanity into a B-movie schlockfest.
While I Am Legend is formulaic sci-fi action (ripping-off 28 Weeks Later) it’s only interesting as a cultural-political artifact.
Unwise use of CGI is eventually no more debilitating a defect than I Am Legend's wayward third act, which begins with Neville cornily reciting lines from Shrek.
Smith nails the portrayal. It's not the kind of work that will earn him an Oscar nomination but audiences usually don't see better than this in genre films.
The movie takes chances, assuming its audience is up for more than ear-splitting explosions, zombie retreads, and happy, catchphrase laden endings.
The first two thirds and change of I Am Legend is terrific mindless fun: crackerjack action with gnashing vampires barely glimpsed (and scarier for that) and how’d-they-do-that New York locations that retroactively justify the traffic jams.
Even A Boy and His Dog (1974) carried a stronger punch [than this] visually transformative but thematically weak movie.
Looking terrific, star Will Smith gives a commanding perfromance that tries to link two disparate films competing for attention. A stark apocalyptic saga with some existential ideas (first half) and a conventional special-effects zombie flick (second).
The film can never quite decide whether it's speculative fiction or a B-movie horror show. It's not a fatal flaw, though.
Latest News for I Am Legend
December 08, 2008:
Will Smith Outlines "Fantastic Prequel Idea" for I Am Legend ![]()
Never mind all that stuff about the next "I Am Legend" movie being a sequel -- Will Smith gave the straight scoop to Collider recently, and outlined his ideas for the "Legend"... More...
November 25, 2008:
A Sequel for I Am Legend? ![]()
It's utterly unverified, but AICN has started a rumor that the upcoming "I Am Legend" prequel may not be a prequel at all, but will instead pick up the story of Will Smith's... More...
September 25, 2008:
Will Smith Is Still Legend ![]()
Warner Bros. is moving ahead with its rumored "I Am Legend" prequel, and has hired D.B. Weiss to write a script based on an outline by Will Smith, Francis Lawrence, Akiva... More...
July 28, 2008:
Weekly Ketchup: TRON, I Am Legend, Hercules, Red Sonja, And More
In this special edition Weekly Ketchup, the sequels, prequels and comic book heroes keep coming, as we have the latest from Comic Con. More...
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